You might look out to the ocean and see the tiny lip of what becomes a massive wave by the time it hits the shore. In the world of healthcare, that phenomenon would be like investors buying up hospitals and clinics of all kinds. Corporations are joining the fray as well—they, like anyone else, want to cut their medical expenses. Mainstream press focuses on the “greedy corporate overlord” narrative whenever a nonmedical business buys a clinic. Under this theme, such moves could be anticompetitive and kill the care patients get. There’s some truth to those outcomes. Yet the reality of investor-owned medical offices is nuanced. There are more layers to ownership-based incentives now than even before. This episode’s here to tell you why someone buying a clinic brings massive consequences for patients everywhere.

There’s no doubt that our medical system’s expensive to a point of comedic tragedy. No shortage of private and public entities have tried to make medicine cheaper. Ironically, the federal government tries to spend money to save you money in healthcare. Enter the subsidy, an economic instrument both loved and detested by many. Subsidies are used in many parts of the economy, but with medical care in particular, the feds tackle drug development and health insurance among other sectors. Today’s episode tells you why assistance with medical funding makes healthcare both cheaper and pricier for you.

You’ve heard of doctors and nurses. Physician assistants have been on the scene as well. But not all medical doctors have the same degree. Sometimes you might see doctors the letters DO following their names instead of MD. The DO, or Doctor of Osteopathic medicine, has similar base training to an MD, but with more emphasis on treating someone within context of the entire person. Don’t be ashamed if you haven’t heard of such a doctor—according to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), about one in five Americans don’t even know that DOs exist. Patients who know the difference between and where their kinds of doctors come from will have more success with building a great medical relationship. This episode’s covering everything you need to know about DOs in the grand scheme of medicine as well as how to pick them properly.